Dallas Section Meeting

Topic: Lifecycle of safety instrumented systems (1 PDH)

Have you ever wondered what goes into defining and managing safety instrumented systems (SIS)? Then this presentation is for you. Join us for a guided tour of the SIS lifecycle and learn how it connects to PHAs, mechanical integrity, pre-startup reviews, training, and many other engineering and plant activities.

Speaker: Nicholas P. Sands, DuPont de Nemours, Inc.

Nick is currently a Senior Manufacturing Technology Fellow working for DuPont’s Tyvek® business and the subject matter lead for safety instrumented systems (SIS), alarm management (AM), and human machine interface (HMI) design. He lives in Dallas, TX and supports plants in Virginia and Luxembourg. In his 32 years with DuPont, he has been a business process control leader, site process control leader, process control consultant, and plant control engineer in several different businesses. He has worked on or led the development of several corporate standards and best practices in the areas of automation competency, safety instrumented systems, alarm management, and process safety. 

Nick is an ISA (International Society of Automation) Fellow, a past ISA Vice President of Standards and Practices, a past VP of Professional Development, and a volunteer in the development of the Certified Automation Professional program. He co-chaired the ISA18 committee on alarm management for almost 20 years and now serves as a director. His is also director of the ISA101 committee on human machine interface, a director of the ISA84 committee on safety instrumented systems, and secretary of the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) committee that published the alarm management standard IEC62682 and a member of the MT61511 committee. He has written over 40 articles and papers on alarm management, safety instrumented systems, and professional development and is the co-editor of ISA’s Guide to the Automation Body of Knowledge 3^rd Edition.

Nick is a member of Control’s Process Automation Hall of Fame, a Certified Automation Professional, and a licensed engineer in the state of Delaware. His path to instrumentation and control started while he earned his BS in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Tech.